


A Light in the Darkness

by deaththerabbit



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game), Naruto
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, more tags to come later probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:20:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22644772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deaththerabbit/pseuds/deaththerabbit
Summary: Sent to Kirigakure with his team on a mission to build bonds of friendship with the shinobi of the Mist, Morisawa Chiaki comes face to face with someone he never expected to see again.
Relationships: Morisawa Chiaki/Shinkai Kanata
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	A Light in the Darkness

_Blood splattered across the ground, dyeing the vivid green grass crimson. It soaked down into the soil, and for a moment, Chiaki was almost overwhelmed._

_All around him, shinobi were fighting and dying, and there was nothing he could do to keep his friends safe. There was nothing he could do, except fight, and even then, there was no guarantee that his friends would be safe, and no guarantee that he, himself, would survive._

_But he had to do something; he owed it to his friends and his village to fight._

_Kunai in hand, Chiaki stopped hesitating and flung himself headlong at a Mist shinobi that had cornered a young Leaf genin, so young that she could only have just graduated from the academy._

_He shoved the genin to the side, blocking the Mist shinobi’s kunai with his own. His eyes narrowed as the shinobi suddenly backed off, taking his attention off of Chiaki and casting an anxious glance to his left._

_Chiaki took his opportunity to strike, with hesitation, drawing his kunai back and then driving it through the shinobi’s ribcage. This was a war, and one of them was going to have to die. The Mist shinobi would not show mercy, so he could not afford to either._

_He went to attack the next Mist shinobi, but stopped when he realized the fighting had stopped, and all the Mist shinobi had fled along with the Leaf shinobi. A terrible sense of foreboding rose up inside him, and a shiver ran down his spine the moment his ears caught the sound of a haunting song floating through the trees._

_“Fish...sea turtles...drowned bodies…which one will you become?” The voice was soft and slow._

_Chiaki turned slowly, spotting a Mist shinobi slowly approaching through the trees. He didn’t wear the standard Mist uniform; his headband tied loosely around his neck the only indication that he was not some ethereal apparition._

_His white one-sleeved haori was unstained by the blood that had been spilled by his glimmering katana. Similarly, his blank, inexpressive face was free of the blood that dripped from his blade, light green eyes, one almost hidden by his blue hair, hollow and empty on the surface._

_And just like that, Chiaki was no longer afraid. He saw, deep in the depths of those soft green eyes, an unbearable loneliness._

_The Mist shinobi tilted his head as he watched Chiaki, seeming puzzled by the lack of fear he saw in Chiaki’s brown eyes. “You are not afraid?”_

_As if he could not control his own movements, Chiaki shook his head and lowered his kunai. He stepped forward, entranced by his sad, ethereal beauty, wondering why this shinobi gave off the feeling of a divine being shackled with a terrible curse he had no control of, and why he wanted to extend his hand to him when they were on the opposite sides of a war._

_Chiaki came to a sudden stop when he heard the cries of the little genin from earlier, somewhere farther in the trees. He turned and sprinted in her direction to lend his aid, casting one last glance at the sorrowful shinobi and finally noticing the trail of corpses that laid behind him._

_Throughout the rest of the war, he did not see the Mist shinobi again, and began to wonder if he had been a figment of his imagination, though he could not get the sight of his light green eyes out of his mind, and the sorrow that dwelled within them. It was a sight that he was sure would stay with him for even years after this battle._

~*~

Chiaki waited just outside the gates of Konohagakure, waiting for his team to arrive. They’d recently been promoted to chuunin, and they were excited to begin their first mission with their newly established ranks.

Team Chiaki was composed of Sengoku Shinobu, Nagumo Tetora, and Takamine Midori. They were a set of odd people, but Chiaki had been glad to have them under his wing, and he had grown very fond of his students. He was proud that they had finally been promoted, though he hadn’t even let them attempt the Chuunin Exams until this last round, not wanting them to be unprepared for the challenges that would await them, as he had been.

The first to arrive was Shinobu. In true shinobi fashion, Shinobu appeared in a dramatic puff of smoke. He pulled his yellow shuriken patterned scarf tight around his neck and went to wait next to Chiaki, trying to put on a mature attitude, though Chiaki saw right through that to the excitement that gleamed in Shinobu’s one visible eye.

Midori and Tetora arrived next, the former being dragged by the latter. Tetora didn’t even try to hide his excitement as he dragged his taller teammate over, while Midori looked rather put out by the whole ordeal.

Chiaki was glad that his students were the same as ever, and he couldn’t help but smile about it. “I trust you all read the briefing?” It didn’t matter how they answered; he was going to go over it with them anyway.

Shinobu and Midori both nodded, while Tetora awkwardly looked away. That was the answer that Chiaki had been expecting, so he was not surprised.

“Well, we’ll go over it as we’re traveling!” Chiaki said, patting Tetora’s head affectionately before turning and taking the lead out of the gates. “The most important thing to remember, though, is that we have to try not to offend our hosts, alright?” He began to explain.

Team Chiaki had been given a very special mission. In order to foster friendship between all the villages, the Kages had decided on an exchange program at the last summit meeting, where shinobi of other villages could learn from each other. It was an idea that many shinobi had resisted, but were going through with for the tiny chance at peace.

Chiaki had been chosen for this particular mission because of his friendliness to everyone, no matter who or what they were. It was a trait that would be useful in the village they were being sent to for the exchange program. Kirigakure was a rough place, even with the fifth Mizukage’s reformation efforts to move past their former moniker, the ‘bloody mist.’

On the surface, it seemed to be a simple enough mission; one that had very little risk factor in the short term. But if something were to happen that caused a national incident, then the five great nations could be launched into war again.

Chiaki was not afraid; he was certain that this mission could only bring good things to their villages, and he could not wait to see where this mission would take both his team and himself.

But he was not prepared to meet the familiar face that haunted his dreams and memories of the war long since past.

**Author's Note:**

> hello, and thank you for reading!! i've dived headfirst back into naruto again, and came up with this idea! i hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of this fic! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! thanks again for reading!


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